This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

Stanley Cup: As final drags on, other 28 NHL teams get busy: Cox

It’s hard not to get the sense that the other 28 NHL clubs are either anxiously awaiting the end of the Cup final to get down to business or aren’t willing to wait any longer.

The Blackhawks' Marian Hossa cools off on the bench during overtime against the Boston Bruins in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup final. The final could conceivably last until June 26, the latest an NHL season has ever gone. (JOHN GRESS / REUTERS)

CHICAGO—The prelims are done with and all the slash-to-back-of-the-knee introductions completed between two clubs that hadn’t met in 606 days going into this year’s Stanley Cup final.

Later this week, one team will have the chance to hoist the blessed trophy and one will face elimination. That said, the final may not end until the 26th, the latest an NHL season has ever gone. Past the beginning of Wimbledon, well past the end of the school year and certainly past the point of caring for many.

Still, against all odds, the Hawks and Bruins seem determined to conclude this shortened bastard season with something special, maybe by making the 2013 post-season filled with more overtime games than any Cup tournament ever.

Clearly, 60 minutes isn’t enough for these two squads to decide a simple hockey game. That said, other than the fact two very good hockey clubs can’t mount one halfway decent power play between them, this has been well-played so far.

Amazingly, as the final moves along, stories are proliferating about the strange, strained relationships within the two organizations. In Chicago, the connections between president John McDonough, GM Stan Bowman and the coaching staff are said to be terribly frayed. With Boston, the executive divisions between the Cam Neely group and the Peter Chiarelli group are thought to be similarly troubled, and in both cities, it’s amazing the political intrigue hasn’t gone public or inhibited the ability of either team to win.

Article Continued Below

It’s hard not to get the sense, meanwhile, that the other 28 clubs are either anxiously awaiting the end of the Cup final to get down to business or aren’t willing to wait any longer.

The old tradition, that teams would try to avoid doing major business during the final to allow for maximum exposure of a marquee event, has clearly disappeared after a season in which the schedule was so compacted after the lockout it seemed doubleheaders were the next step.

Sadly, that meant the annual NHL awards were jammed into a few shards of live programming and scattered press releases over the past few days. Nobody misses the annually awful awards show, but it was patently unfair that the likes of P.K. Subban, Sergei Bobrovsky and Jonathan Huberdeau did not get anything close to the full meal deal in terms of exposure and attention as they accepted their first major NHL honour.

Edmonton stole a little bit of the spotlight last week by signing Dallas Eakins to coach — unfortunately, before Ralph Krueger had even been fired — but that was forgivable, probably, because they were trying to beat the Canucks to the punch on this appealing young coach.

The Rangers jumped in on Friday by picking Alain Vigneault over icon Mark Messier as their new coach. With the nearby Brooklyn Nets tabbing the barely retired Jason Kidd to coach, there would have been symmetry in the Blueshirts going for an ex-player, but GM Glen Sather resisted the temptation to go big and instead played it safe.

Mark Streit went from Long Island to Philly in one of those pre-free-agency strikes, and the chatter is that his Flyer contract will illustrate the loopholes still available to teams interested in circumventing the spirit of the salary cap (think massive signing bonus). Phoenix, perhaps, is being sorted out, but not one person should be surprised if the team is neither sold to new owners nor relocated, but rather remains under NHL proprietorship as efforts to hold a gun to the head of embattled local taxpayers continue.

No team, meanwhile, seems quite as anxious to make something happen as the dazed and confused Calgary Flames. Mocked for their inability to put one administrative foot in front of the other — first Ryan O’Reilly, then Jarome Iginla, and we won’t even get into the Roman (Best Player Outside the NHL) Cervenka folly — the Flames are now apparently looking to hit for the cycle before July even arrives.

The CBC’s Elliotte Friedman reported Saturday night that the Flames have offered three first-round picks — Nos. 6, 22 and 28 — to Colorado for the first overall pick in this month’s entry draft. At the same time, oddly enough, the Flames are interviewing candidates for a position equivalent to president of hockey operations, but with president and CEO Ken King and GM Jay Feaster retaining their current powers.

Which means no real power for the new guy.

That’s not going to either work — no wonder Brian Burke isn’t thought to be in the mix — or attract top candidates. Word is NHL executives Colin Campbell and Brendan Shanahan have spoken to the Flames, Shanahan as recently as Friday.

The Flames and 27 other teams, it’s clear, just can’t wait to get started on next season and no longer are, whether or not that detracts from the Cup final.

That die was cast, of course, when this league and its players decided it wasn’t convenient to start playing until January.

The Toronto Star and thestar.com, each property of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, One Yonge Street, 4th Floor, Toronto, ON, M5E 1E6. You can unsubscribe at any time. Please contact us or see our privacy policy for more information.

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com